President Donald Trump’s disdain for the media and its information could shape attitudes across the country—how electorates evaluate claims during campaign cycles, how students are taught in school to ferret out facts, and how political and corporate officials deal with the media and the public.

Just this past month, a number of incidents threatening journalists’ rights occurred:

a Congressional candidate from Montana assaulted a Guardian reporter who was trying to ask him a question on the eve of their special election;

a newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky had its windows shot out;

a journalist was arrested in West Virginia while posing healthcare questions to the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price;

an award-winning journalist with CQ Roll Call was stalked and manhandled by security guards at Federal Communications Commission headquarters when posing questions to a FCC Commissioner;

and a CNN reporter was threatened by a U.S. State Department press official demanding to know who her sources were.

The watchdog role of the media, an informed citizenry, and the vigilance of public discourse in exposing lies and wrongdoing have separated the United States from kleptocracies, oligarchies, and cronyist regimes all over the world. Those precepts may now be in jeopardy.

Sign the petition to elected officials in Washington and across the country to uphold and defend our constitutional right to a free press.

To: All Members of Congress and Elected Officials Across the Country

Freedom of the press is a central pillar of our democracy. The president’s disregard for the role of the press and the public’s right to information threatens to reshape society writ large. We demand that you uphold and defend our constitutional right to a free press.

By signing this petition, you agree to receive email updates from some of these participating organizations (no more than four): #AllOfUs, Brave New Films, Center for Media and Democracy, Courage Campaign, CPD Action, Common Cause, Daily Kos, Watchdog.net, Free Press Action Fund, Left Action, PEN America, People For the American Way, People's Action, Presente.org, Progressive Congress Action Fund, Public Citizen, The Nation, The Zero Hour. You can, of course, opt out of receiving these updates at any time.